Into Open Air
by Tandrele
Summary: After being taken, Angel finds that she's not so alone after all.


_**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Maximum Ride, they belong to their respective authors. Trust me the books are better off not written by me. ;) **_

O

Angel didn't remember much after the helicopter whisked her away.

She remembered fragments of sound and the rough canvas of the black sack chafing against her skin.

She woke up on a metal table, strapped down with restraints.

When two men walked in dressed in white lab coats, their thoughts filled with horrifying promises of what they were going to do to her she realized exactly where she was.

A place that was tabooed at home with the Flock.

The School.

O

The two Whitecoats dragged her into a large room filled with row upon row of cages and forcefully handled her into the small dog crate. As soon as their footsteps faded into the distance Angel hid her face in her hands and sobbed. _Where are you Max? _Her mind cried out, trying to send a mental message but in her heart she knew that Max was too far away to hear her.

"Are you alright?" the voice was whispered but worried and so completely unexpected and out-of-place that Angel stopped crying and looked around to find the source of the voice.

"Over here," There was a rustle and Angel glanced to the crate diagonal from her where she could see a pair of emerald-green eyes gazing at her. "Are you alright?" the voice, now identified to be a boy, repeated.

Angel managed a half-hearted nod wishing she could make out more of the boy's features in the dark, and as much as she wanted to she made an effort to restrain herself from just reading his mind, Max had told her countless times it was rude.

Yet, when their eyes met _she _could feel _him _inside her head, it startled her so much that she broke eye contact and as she did the connection ended.

"Sorry," the boy sounded sheepish, "That always happens when I meet new people. It's…automatic."

"You…you can read minds?!" Angel exclaimed in an excited whisper.

"A little; it's hard and takes eye contact and concentration."

"Oh…" she paused before saying, "I can too."

"Can what?"

"Read minds, but I don't need eye contact."

"Really?" the boy breathed, his voice as excited as hers now.

"Yep!"

"Show me."

Angel concentrated on the boy and their minds connected once more. With the connection she could see him; his messy unkempt black hair that fell into an angular face that suggested nobility but with a boyish charm, his eerie emerald eyes that were so bright it was almost unnatural (not that it really mattered where they were) but most of what got her attention was he was six years older than her and he had wings as black as his hair.

Angel clamped onto the connection and sent him a mental message.

_You're like me…you have…_

_Wings? _

_Yes. I thought my family and I were the only successful ones._

_You'd be correct. You _were_, but the evil docs have been busy. New Erasers, new projects and then you have me: bird kid version 2.0. _

_How long have you been here? _

_As long as I can remember. _The sentence was accompanied by bitterness, sadness and a fierce desire for freedom…to fly and it made Angel's six-year-old heart ache. They were both too young to have such burdens, to want such things.

_What's your name? _Angel asked softly trying to shake off the melancholy of the fact they both may never be free.

_Jay. You? _

_Angel._

_Pretty name, has to do with the color of your wings I'm guessing? _

_I think so, I've never thought about it that way. Why Jay? _

_Short for James…I think it's part of my real name, the one my parents gave me, but I'm not sure. _

Angel paused processing that, _You mean you have parents?! _

_Had, _Jay corrected sadly, _You did too._

_How can you be sure? _Angel demanded, _We could be test tube babies for all we know!_

Jay gave a sigh, _I've been here ever since I was a baby, I've heard things, I've tried to see as many of the scientists thoughts and memories as I could without them getting suspicious. Since I'm the second version of your experiment they were always thinking and talking about you guys, comparing me to you and such. I know my parents were murdered or something and they found me on a doorstep._

Angel said nothing for a moment, thoroughly abashed. _I'm sorry._

_Don't be. _He sent her a mental smile, _It's not your fault. _

They were both quiet for a few minutes both lost in their own thoughts and each other's.

_Jay?_

_Yeah?_

_I'm really scared…how are we…I mean…what if Max doesn't come?_

_Then we come up with an escape plan. I've thought about it once or twice over the years but I know I need backup. Together, us two mind readers I'm sure it'd be cake. _Jay said it with such total confidence that Angel couldn't help but feel a bit better. _Don't worry Ang, I'll be taking care of my new little sister._

Angel gave a small smile, _That makes four brothers now. _

Jay paused, _Will you tell me about them…tell me about what it's like to fly? _

And as Angel began to regale him with the story of how Max taught her how to fly, after a few minutes both children forgot all about the cages they were contained in and the horror inside their prison. For a moment, they were the two children that could have been.

O

_**So this is the first Harry Potter/Max Ride crossover that I have toyed with, I have written a second one and I suppose it depends on how this one turns out that will be the deciding factor on posting it. Since I have so many ideas for these two worlds I may make it a collection of unrelated one-shots, but we'll see! I hope that you like this story and I'd love any reviews you'd offer!**_

_**Love to all my readers,**_

_**Tandy :) **_


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